Traveling harness system

ABSTRACT

A traveling harness system is provided for an appliance to maintain electrical connections between the appliance and a drawer, while allowing the drawer to move. Wiring harness guides formed in the drawer force the wiring harness to maintain a predictable and desirable loop radius to reduce stress on the wiring harness, which prevents the wiring harness from prematurely wearing.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to appliances. In particular, this disclosure isdrawn to refrigerators and/or freezers having drawers with integrateduser interfaces.

BACKGROUND

Appliances, such as refrigerators, sometimes include drawer type doors,or drawers disposed within the appliance. If an appliance drawerincludes electrical devices, such as lights, displays, controls, etc.,it is desirable to route power and signals to the electrical devices.Typically, power and signals are delivered using wiring harnesses orcable assemblies. Since a drawer, and any associated wiring harnesses,will be frequently opened and closed, the wiring harnesses tend to wear,due to the harness flexing and rubbing on other objects.

SUMMARY

An appliance is provided including a cabinet, a drawer movable betweenan open position and a closed position, a wiring harness between thedrawer and a wall of the cabinet, a first wiring harness guide coupledto the drawer, the first wiring harness guide being configured to orientthe wiring harness at a desired angle, relative to the drawer, and asecond wiring harness guide coupled to the cabinet to guide the wiringharness to a desired geometry when the drawer is moved.

Another embodiment provides an appliance including a cabinet, a drawermovable between an open position and a closed position, a conduitcoupled to the drawer and extending generally parallel to a wall of thecabinet, a cable assembly coupled to the cabinet and to the drawer, thecable assembly being routed at least partially through the conduit, anda cable assembly guide coupled to the drawer and disposed proximate anend of the conduit, the cable assembly guide being configured to orientthe wiring harness away from the wall of the cabinet.

Another embodiment provides a method of delivering power and signals toa drawer of an appliance including coupling a first end of a cableassembly to a wall of the appliance, coupling a second end of the cableassembly to the drawer such that a length of the cable assembly extendsbetween the drawer and the wall, and coupling a cable assembly guide tothe drawer to control the orientation of the cable assembly extendingbetween the drawer and the wall, wherein the cable assembly guideorients the cable assembly away from the wall in the proximity of thecable assembly guide.

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparentfrom the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description thatfollows below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a refrigerator having a drawer with atraveling harness.

FIG. 2 is an exploded partial isometric view of a drawer of arefrigerator.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial isometric view taken from the perspectiveof line 3-3 of FIG. 2

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a pantry adapter and rail in the closedposition.

FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of the pantry adapter and railshown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded bottom view of a pantry adapter, rail, conduit,and wiring harness.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the pantry adapter, rail, and wiring harnessfrom the perspective of the interior of the drawer.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the pantry adapter, rail, and wiring harnessfrom the perspective of the exterior of the drawer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, the present disclosure relates to a traveling harness systemfor appliances such as refrigerators and freezers. A traveling harnessis used to provide signals and/or power to a user interface integratedwith a drawer in an appliance. For example, some refrigerators include afreezer drawer or food storage drawers that include a user interface(e.g., indicators, displays, controls, etc.). A wiring harness iscoupled between the refrigerator cabinet harness and the drawer userinterface to provide signals and/or power to the user interface. Whenthe drawer is opened and closed, the wiring harness bends to maintainthe electrical connections between the refrigerator and drawer, whileallowing the drawer to move. To increase the reliability of therefrigerator, wiring harness guides force the wiring harness to maintaina predictable and desirable loop radius to reduce stress on the harness,which prevents the wiring harness from prematurely wearing. In oneexample, the wiring harness guide is coupled to the drawer at the pointwhere the wiring harness is coupled to the drawer, and forces the wiringharness to extend away from the refrigerator wall, at a specific angle.In another example, a second wiring harness guide is coupled to therefrigerator wall to guide the opposite end of the wiring harness to adesired radius. By keeping the wiring harness at an optimal radius,stresses on the wiring harness are minimized when the drawer is openedand closed.

The following disclosure will be described in the context of wiringharnesses in appliances such as refrigerators and freezers. It shall beunderstood that the concepts described also apply to other appliances,furniture, and other applications.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a refrigerator 10 that may be used with atraveling harness of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 1,the refrigerator 10 has a lower freezer compartment (pantry 12) and anupper fresh food compartment 14. Other configurations are also possible.The fresh food compartment 14 includes side-by-side doors 16 and a waterand ice dispenser 18. The pantry 12 includes an upper door 20 and alower door 21. The pantry 12 and doors 20 and 21 form a drawer typefreezer compartment. The upper door 20 includes a user interface 22disposed on the upper edge of the door 20. The user interface 22 mayinclude an LCD display, LED indicators, buttons, etc. The user interfacecould also be disposed on the front surface of the door 20. One or morelights (not shown) may be used to illuminate the contents of the pantry12.

The configuration of the pantry 12 and doors 20 and 21 may take on anydesired form. FIGS. 2-9 illustrate one example of a drawer-style pantry12. In the example shown in FIGS. 2-9, the refrigerator 10 includes aliner 24 that lines the interior surfaces of the refrigerator 10 andforms interior walls of the refrigerator 10. FIG. 2 is an exploded viewof a drawer 26 that is part of the pantry 12. The drawer 26 includes atray 28 that is used to hold food that is stored in the pantry 12. Forclarity, door 20 is not shown. The tray 28 is mounted to a pair ofopposing rails 30 that are movably coupled to left and right pantryadapters 32, which are mounted to the liner 24 of the refrigerator 10.The rails 30 allow the tray 28 to slide out when a user pulls the handleof the pantry door 20. The example of FIG. 2 shows various details ofthe liner 24, rails 30, and tray 28 that are not essential to thedisclosure described below.

In the example shown in FIGS. 2-9, the user interface 22 of the pantrydoor 20 is electrically coupled to the refrigerator 10 via a wiringharness, or cable assembly. In the examples shown, the wiring harness isdisposed on the right side of the drawer 26, and is not shown in FIG. 2.FIGS. 3 and 4 are isometric view of the right hand rail 30 shown in FIG.2, viewed from the opposite side of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows a partial viewof the liner 24, pantry adapter 32, and rail 30 taken from theperspective of line 3-3 of FIG. 2. The tray 28 and pantry door 20 arenot shown. In FIG. 3, the rail 30 is in the open position. FIG. 3 alsoshows a wiring harness 34 that is coupled to the rail 30 and the pantryadapter 32. The wiring harness 34 provides an electrical connection (forsignals and/or power) between the refrigerator 10 and the user interface22 of the pantry door 20. If desired, a user can unplug the wiringharness 34 in order to remove the drawer 26.

FIG. 4 shows the pantry adapter 32 and rail 30 in the closed position.The liner 24 is not shown in FIG. 4. As with FIG. 3, the wiring harness34 is coupled to the rail 30 and the pantry adapter 32. As shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, the wiring harness 34 moves from an extended orientation(FIG. 3) when the drawer is in the open position to a coiled position(FIG. 4) when the drawer is in the closed position. As described indetail below, the orientation of the wiring harness 34 is controlled tominimize wear on the wiring harness 34. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, thewiring harness 34 is oriented in a horizontal plane in both the open andclosed positions.

FIG. 5 is an exploded isometric view of the pantry adapter 32 and rail30 shown in FIG. 4 (in the closed position). The rail 30 has a conduit36 that secures the wiring harness 34 to the rail 30 along most of thelength of the rail 30. At the rear end (the end toward the back of therefrigerator 10) of the conduit 36, the conduit 36 is angled outward(relative to the liner 24 and refrigerator wall) to form a part of awiring harness guide 38 (shown as wiring harness guide 38A). An angledportion 38B of the rail 30 forms the remaining part of the wiringharness guide 38. The wiring harness guide 38 forces the wiring harness34 to be oriented at a desired angle, relative to the rail 30, tomaintain a specific, desired loop radius.

FIG. 6 is an exploded bottom view of the pantry adapter 32, rail 30,conduit 36, and wiring harness 34. As shown, the wiring harness guide 38(formed by 38A and 38B) is angled outward, relative to the pantryadapter 32 (and thus, the wall of the refrigerator 10) to guide theorientation of the wiring harness 34. FIG. 6 also shows a second wiringharness guide 40 that is formed on the pantry adapter 32. the wiringharness guide 40 has a curved surface 42 that has a guide geometry thathelps keep the wiring harness 34 within a specific desired loop radius.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial view taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6. Theview of FIG. 7 is taken at a slight angle from the rear of therefrigerator to help illustrate the orientation of the wiring harnessguides 38 and 40.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are side views of the pantry adapter 32, rail 30, andwiring harness 34 shown in FIG. 4 (the closed position). FIG. 8 is aside view of the pantry adapter 32, rail 30, and wiring harness 34 fromthe perspective of the interior of the drawer 26. As shown, the wiringharness 34 extends from the rail 30 (guided by the wiring harness guide38), forming a loop, and is coupled at the opposite end to the pantryadapter 32. FIG. 9 is an opposite side view of the pantry adapter 32,rail 30, and wiring harness 34 from the perspective of the exterior ofthe drawer 26. As shown, the wiring harness 34 is coupled to the pantryadapter 32 (i.e., at the side of the refrigerator) and is guided by thewiring harness guide 40. The combination of the wiring harness guides 38and 40 cause the wiring harness 34 to maintain a specific, desired loopradius during the operation of the pantry drawer to minimize stress onthe wiring harness 34, increasing the lifespan of the wiring harness 34.

In the preceding detailed description, the disclosure is described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. Variousmodifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the disclosure as set forth in the claims.The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. An appliance comprising: a cabinet; a drawer movable between an open position and a closed position; a wiring harness between the drawer and a wall of the cabinet; a first wiring harness guide coupled to the drawer, the first wiring harness guide being configured to orient the wiring harness at a desired angle, relative to the drawer; and a second wiring harness guide coupled to the cabinet to guide the wiring harness to a desired geometry when the drawer is moved.
 2. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the appliance is a refrigerator.
 3. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the first harness guide is configured to orient the wiring harness at an angle directed away from the wall of the cabinet.
 4. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the wiring harness is coupled to a side wall of the cabinet.
 5. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising a conduit coupled to the drawer for housing the wiring harness.
 6. The appliance of claim 5, wherein the conduit has an angled end that forms the first wiring harness guide.
 7. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the wiring harness is oriented in a horizontal plane.
 8. The appliance of claim 1, further comprising a user interface disposed on the drawer, wherein the user interface is electrically connected to the wiring harness.
 9. An appliance comprising: a cabinet; a drawer movable between an open position and a closed position; a conduit coupled to the drawer and extending generally parallel to a wall of the cabinet; a cable assembly coupled to the cabinet and to the drawer, the cable assembly being routed at least partially through the conduit; and a cable assembly guide coupled to the drawer and disposed proximate an end of the conduit, the cable assembly guide being configured to orient the wiring harness away from the wall of the cabinet.
 10. The appliance of claim 9, wherein the appliance is a refrigerator.
 11. The appliance of claim 9, further comprising a second cable assembly guide coupled to the cabinet to guide the wiring harness to a desired geometry when the drawer is moved.
 12. The appliance of claim 9, wherein the cable assembly is coupled to a side wall of the cabinet.
 13. The appliance of claim 9, wherein the conduit has an angled end that forms the cable assembly guide.
 14. The appliance of claim 9, wherein the wiring harness is oriented in a horizontal plane.
 15. The appliance of claim 9, further comprising a user interface disposed on the drawer, wherein the user interface is electrically connected to the cable assembly.
 16. A method of delivering power and signals to a drawer of an appliance comprising: coupling a first end of a cable assembly to a wall of the appliance; coupling a second end of the cable assembly to the drawer such that a length of the cable assembly extends between the drawer and the wall; and coupling a cable assembly guide to the drawer to control the orientation of the cable assembly extending between the drawer and the wall, wherein the cable assembly guide orients the cable assembly away from the wall in the proximity of the cable assembly guide.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the appliance is a refrigerator.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising coupling the first end of the cable assembly to a side wall of the appliance.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising coupling a second cable assembly guide to the wall of the appliance.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing a user interface on the drawer of the appliance and electrically connecting the user interface to the cable assembly. 